As a privileged teenager living in an affluent suburb of Rio de Janeiro, Jean has little to worry about beyond games, grades and girls. But as his overbearing father drags the family into debt, Jean is forced into a change of lifestyle which opens his eyes to the world beyond his 'casa grande' - not least that of the feisty, mixed-race firecracker Luiza. Cultures, classes and generations collide in this engrossing coming-of-age drama from Brazil.
**About a rich Brazilian family.**
In my reviews quite a few times I have mention deja vu, because of encountering similar films. As for this, it was another Brazilian film that came after this, but I saw that one first. It was 'The Second Mother', the Brazilian entry for the 2016 Oscars. Quite similar in narration, particularly about how the Brazilian rich families function, but lots of sub-topics too were covered. It's like a mixed flavour, a slice of everything.
Still, the film was fascinating. You know drama films are usually predictable, as well as unpredictable. For instance, a few events resembles to that of our life or that happened our surroundings. And sometimes for taking place in a different country, if you are not familiar with that culture, it becomes a reason to show our interest while we proceed watching it. Seems it was a coming-of-age theme, and it remains that way, but in between the gaps, like I said you will witness the variety.
If you had already seen the film that I mentioned earlier, you would feel you had already seen around ten per cent of this film. Like you only need a brief intro to understand the film characters and what follows does not need to get used to the atmosphere in the story. Its about another rich couple with two teenagers and their domestic workers. These characters are the centre of the story and focused each others' bondage, as well as the other side of the their lives like encountering their friends, business, society et cetera. It was a neatly folded film, except I felt the daughter remained a bit mystery.
> "No boss ever wins a labour lawsuit in this country."
The major part of the story was preferred to tell from the boy's perspective. Hailing from a rich family, he was given a very protected life from his father. But he decides to experience the reality of society and that gives him an opportunity to meet a girl. So there's a romance in it, but a small part. As he's a teenager, his sexual curiosity too was explored, but in a most possible decent way. Because if you see the film poster, it gives a different impression, just like the film 'Marina'.
In some parts, the film was slow, but considering it is more than a hundred minutes long, the overall pace was good to stay with it till the end. All the actors were excellent and the director did his job decently. But the surprising part was about the topic of racism. I always thought Brasil was one of the tolerant countries when it comes to ethnicity and social classes. Though nothing serious, everything was mostly verbal discussions that ended both ways after those involved expressed their views. Overall, it was a bit different, unlike what we see in American films. Mainly because it arose after an argument with another topic, 'quota', for the socially backward classes.
I usually enjoy watching this kind of realistic portrayal. It's like witnessing a different culture and lifestyle, in a cinematic way. If you are a film fanatic like me, you will get the point. The structure of characters and plot, all looked fine. The writing must be appreciated, it will work for the majority of the viewers, but still not appealing enough for some sections of the audience. Otherwise the film would have been recognised equal to the other Brasil film I compared with. This is a 'go for it' film. Not just for entertainment, but to understand how life takes turns that's not yours. So I think it is worth a watch.
_7/10_
